WMTV-TV (Madison, WI)

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) - A 71-year-old Florida man is lucky to be alive after an alligator attack turned a quiet night of fishing into a fight for his life. James Grayson McMicken, 71, says it was just a routine night last Friday when he took his bulldog out, grabbed his fishing pole and made one cast into the canal behind his North Fort Myers home. That’s when an alligator attacked. “I started reeling, and it jumped out of the water and grabbed me,” McMicken said.

A 71-year-old man used a fishing pole to fight off an alligator that jumped out of the water and attacked him.

OWOSSO, Mich. (WILX/Gray News) - Authorities in Michigan say a father drowned after he and his 8-year-old son tried to swim across a lake at a campground. Shiawassee County deputies say a 42-year-old man went swimming with his 8-year-old son around 5 p.m. Thursday at a campground in Owosso Township. The pair tried to swim across the lake and made it halfway before the father realized he couldn’t finish the swim, according to deputies. Nearby campers heard the father and son yelling for help.

As the United States celebrated the country's 250th birthday, the events faced some big challenges.

A fire broke out on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York during the city’s July Fourth fireworks show.

NEW YORK (AP) - A fire broke out on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York during the city’s July Fourth fireworks show, spreading flames and setting off a plume of smoke before firefighters extinguished the blaze. No injuries were reported. Two fire engines were used to put out the blaze, the city’s fire department said. Firefighters were seen dousing the flames shortly before 10 p.m. on the bridge, which had been closed to traffic during the show.

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The MLB All-Star rosters are officially set, and a Madison native is headed to the Midsummer Classic for the first time in his career. Drake Baldwin, a Madison West alum, has been selected as a starter in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game. Baldwin earned the honor despite missing nearly a month earlier this season with a right oblique strain, still putting up All-Star-caliber numbers in the first half of the season.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Major cities across the United States celebrated the country’s 250th birthday, but the events faced some big challenges, including extreme heat and thunderstorms. Gates opened at the Salute to America event on the National Mall around 5 p.m. Saturday, despite the intense heat. A severe thunderstorm forced an evacuation just a couple of hours later. President Donald Trump’s celebration for America’s 250th anniversary promised a record-breaking fireworks show.

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Fireworks may have been missing from Madison’s lakefront this Fourth of July, but that didn’t stop hundreds of people from celebrating Independence Day at Memorial Union Terrace. The Wisconsin Union and The Edgewater reimagined this year’s event as Stars, Stripes and Shorelines after fireworks over Lake Mendota were canceled. Instead, families spent the day enjoying live music, children’s activities, food and a performance by the Mad-City Ski Team.